Attachment for rocking chairs



Aug. 15, 1939. Y J. H AREND ATTACHMENT FOR ROCKING CHAIRS Filed March14, 1938 Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ATTACHMENTFOR ROCKING CHAIRS John H. Arends, Maplewood, N. J.

Application March 14, 1938, Serial No. 195,731

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in rocking chairs; and moreparticularly to the provision of an adjustable footrest for rockingchairs.

Heretofore, in the usual rocking chair, the feet generally rest upon thefloor and during the rocking movements of the chair, the feet areconstantly raised and lowered.

This movement of the feet and lower limbs becomes tiring after a periodof time, especially with elderly people who are the main users ofrocking chairs. Also, the usual rocking chair is not adjustable toaccommodate persons of different sizes, and unless the chair is properlyfitted to the user the rocking action is uncomfortable.

It is therefore an object of this invention, to provide in a rockingchair a footrest which can be adjusted to accommodate persons of anysize, and obviates the necessity of the user of the chair placing thefeet upon the floor, thus Preventing raising and lowering of the feetand annoying actions of the lower limbs.

A further object is the provision of an adjustable footrest which can beadjusted to any standard rocking chair without material alterations. Thefootrest is simple in structure and can be readily and convenientlymanufactured at a relatively low cost, with the further advantage thatthe foot rest can be attached to any rocking chair now in use.

These and other advantageous objects, which will later appear, areaccomplished by the simple and practical construction and arrangement ofparts hereinafter described and exhibited in the accompanying drawing,forming part hereof,

and in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a rocking chair, partly in section,embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken upon the line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an element of the device, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a stop element used in the device, and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a slightly modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, in Fig. 1 is shown a rocking chair of a wellknown type having arcuate rocking elements 'i which support the seat 8and back member 9.

The improvement comprises an adjustable footrest adapted to beconveniently attached to the rocking element 1. For the purpose of thestrips H are connected by a pair of bars 10 I2 and I3, preferably ofwood, one of said bars having slots I3 therein as shown in Fig. 3 sothat the distance between the strips II can be adjusted to accommodatethe footrest to various chairs and in certain desired positions, bymeans 15 of screws l9 or the like. The bars 12 and I3 are attached tothe strips H in any desired or convenient manner, as for instance, byscrews or the like.

The rear ends of the strips II have attached 20 thereto stop elements Mwhich limit the forward movement of the strips and prevent them frombeing drawn completely out of the guide members l0.

As will be seen the footrest can be readily and 25 conveniently adjustedto accommodate persons of all sizes.

In operation, during the rocking of the chair, it is not necessary torest the feet upon the floor, but the feet can be maintained in acomfortable and steady position on the footrest at all times. This is ofconsiderable advantage and an important feature in view of the fact thatrocking chairs are generally used by aged and infirm persons to whomslight inconveniences become 35 extremely annoying.

When it is not desired to use the footrest, the strips II can be slidbackward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and therocking chair can be used in the usual manner. 40

In Fig. 6 is shown a modified form of the invention,. which comprises apair of strips l5 adapted to be attached to the rocking element 1, thestrips I5 moving in guide elements such as shown in Fig. 4. The forwardend of each strip 45 has a right angularly directed portion 16, whichportions abut each other and are adapted to be connected. The modifiedform is of simpler structure than that shown in Fig. 2 in that thefootrest can be made out of two flat bars. The 50 rear ends of the:strips l5 are likewise provided with integral stops H to limit theforward movement of the strips to prevent them from being drawncompletely out of the guide members l0.

From the above description it will be seen that 55 there has beenprovided a simple footrest attachof standard type. The device can bemanufactured at a relatively low cost so that it can be available forpersons of all means.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive andillustrative only, and not as restrictive or limitative of theinvention, of which, obviously, embodiments may be constructed includingmany modifications, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention herein set forth and denoted in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

In a rocking chair having arcuate rocking elements diverging from therear to the front of thereof, means for adjustably connecting the 1"right angled inwardly directed portion of said bars to provide a footrest, and stop elements at the rear ends of said bars.

JOHN H. ARENDS.

